


M'lady

by Iloveacting12



Series: Soulword Universe [1]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-07
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-04-12 03:56:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 17,582
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19124083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Iloveacting12/pseuds/Iloveacting12
Summary: AU where the first word your soulmate says to you is a tattoo on your skin. Arya and Gendry meet when Arya is being attacked by three thugs, and Gendry saves the day. They both realize they are each other's soulmates, and Gendry rushes her to the hospital. Due to a head wound, Arya cannot remember his words the night before, and does not realize that he is her soulmate. Gendry's awkwardness keeps him from telling her the truth, and he decides to see if she would like him without realizing they are soulmates.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you enjoy my fic! I'm not planning on this being a very drawn out fic. Most chapters will be longer than the first one, I just had this idea and had to get it down "on paper", and it's past midnight where I live. I hope you like it.

Gendry looks down at his wrist when he first gets up in the morning. He’s done it every morning since he knew how to read. They are the first words he will hear his soulmate say. Not today is scrawled across the skin, and he cannot help but wonder what she will mean by that. Part of him takes comfort in the fact that her handwriting is not much better than his, he can’t imagine being paired with someone neat and tidy. He looks around his small apartment, made even smaller by the clothes, papers, and projects littering every surface; he is definitely not neat and tidy. Gendry shakes himself from his thoughts and gets ready for work. 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arya’s days always begin the same way. She presses the snooze button about five times before finally dragging herself from bed. Without opening her eyes she goes to the shower, turns it on as hot as she can handle, and takes the fastest shower she can, clocked in at about 4 minutes (her brother Robb and she had made it a competition, and she had won, of course). During the shower she catches a quick glimpse at the words scribbled on her wrist. M’lady, the combination of words had annoyed her from the moment she learned what they meant. She is no lady. Her mother may have been one, and her sister still acts like one, but she has never been a lady. She hates the thought of her soulmate treating her like one. She tries not to look at the words as much as she can.  


After the quick shower, she throws on hastily folded clothes she grabs from her dresser. She works at a dojo so she is able to wear workout clothes on the days she trains with the students. Today it’s black leggings and grey tee shirt with a black sweater thrown on top. She fills her to go mug with coffee she brewed the night before and runs out the door. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gendry’s day had been bad. His boss at the forge almost fired him because he had refused to sell his helmet, the first thing he had ever made, and the rich, highborn snob had almost hit him. The only reason why Mott didn’t fire Gendry is because he’s the best at what he does. He always brings in more clients than the other blacksmiths, and Mott can’t afford to lose him. After that Gendry decides to go to the local bar “Bronn’s”, a small bar that is cleaner on the inside than the outside, with an owner whose only hobbies are drinking and fucking, but is still a pretty likeable guy; where he proceeds to drink four boys under the table.  


After two hours Gendry has had enough, pays the bill, and heads out. On the way to his apartment he hears a scuffle down a side street. He tries to ignore it and keep walking but then he hears a loud yell and a man snarling that the bitch had bitten him. He’s not sure if he means a dog or a woman, but Gendry isn’t a fan of either abuse, so he checks it out. He stays in the shadows and sneaks around the corner where he sees a small girl surrounded by three larger men. One has his arm around her chest, one is trying to grab her legs with a knife in his hand, and one is standing back cradling his hand. The one she bit Gendry thinks, and watches as the girl connects her foot with the second man’s crotch and snarl, “not today” as he drops. Gendry freezes. He stares at this girl, fighting hard and well, bloody but resilient, and he’s shocked that she’s his soulmate. Never would he have thought he would be paired with someone so strong, and he realizes he froze for too long when the one with the bleeding hand grabs a rock and slams it into the side of her head. The girl goes limp, and Gendry sees blood begin to dribble down her face. He feels a rush of inexplicable rage wash through him, and with a growl he attacks the three men.  
Gendry is strong. As a blacksmith his arm muscles have become very toned throughout the years, and growing up in the foster houses he lived in, he’s learned how to fight. He goes after the one with the knife first. After incapacitating him, he grabs the knife, and slits his hand open. The man howls and scurries away. The two others turn and see Gendry. 

The one holding the girl drops her and comes for him. “Listen shithead, we were just teaching this highborn scum”, the man spits the word, “that her kind ain’t wanted in these parts. So how abou’ you turn around and forget ya saw anything?” Gendry pretends to consider it, before taking the knife and shoving it into his shoulder. The man screams and faints. He turns to the third man, and sees that he has disappeared. Gendry lets himself pause to breathe, but hears a groan. He turns and sees the girl laying on the ground, obviously hurt, but alive and awake. He rushes over and kneels next to her.  


She sees his hulking form and starts to scream and hit him, her punches too weak to cause any real damage. “Let me go! Let me go!” Gendry does not know how to calm her down.  


He grabs her wrists to stop the pummeling, but that just causes her to thrash, and more blood to come from her head. “M’lady you need to calm down. I’m here to help you. We need to get you to a hospital.” The girl’s eyes go wide at hearing his words, he knows some of them must be on her body, before her eyes roll up, and she drops again.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Arya wakes up in the hospital she meets Gendry, not having remembered the night before. She gets a visit from Sansa and Sandor, and Gendry's feelings grow. 
> 
> I do not know what they serve in hospitals as food. If there is anything incorrect about the hospital experience I do apologize.

Arya wakes up to a pounding in her head that matches the annoying beeping sound coming somewhere close by. She tries to roll over to shut off her alarm, but is stopped by her arm’s inability to move. That, coupled with a sudden pain in her head causes her to lay still and let out a long, low groan. She feels something shift next to her. “Hey, are you awake?”

Her eyes fly open and she winces at the bright light that invades her eyes and makes her head pound even more. The light is suddenly covered by a head. Arya freezes. Woah he’s hot. The man has thick black hair, and startling, piercing, bright blue eyes, and a tanned complexion. He chuckles, a low sound that affects Arya in a way she’s not familiar with. “Um, thanks, I guess.” 

She gives him a confused stare until she realizes she must have said the hot comment out loud. She clears her throat. “I meant the room. The room is hot.” The man snorts, obviously not believing her, but she does not give him a chance to respond before plowing on with her questions. “Where am I? Who are you? Why am I here?” The beeping gets quicker, and Arya realizes there is a heart rate monitor next to her bed that is starting to get louder. 

The man places a hand on her arm, probably to try and calm her down, but Arya flinches and yanks her arm away from him. He puts his hands up in a “surrender” motion. “Listen, Ms. Stark, my name’s Gendry. I was walking home last night when I saw those men attacking you. You got hit on the head pretty hard and passed out right after I fought the men off. I brought you to the hospital. Do you remember anything?” Arya lays still for a second before the memories bombard her.

She remembers walking to her sister’s apartment from her brother’s restaurant and getting cornered in an alley. She remembers trying, and partially succeeding, if she remembers biting the man correctly, in fending them off, until one took something big and hard to her head. She reaches up to feel her forehead and connects with something covering half her head. Yes, she remembers being attacked. She does not remember this handsome stranger saving the day. “Um, I remember the men, but I don’t really remember you. Thanks for saving me I guess.”

The man, Gendry, sighs but nods. “The doctor thought that might be the case. I’ll call for her now.”  


Arya goes to thank him before realization hits her. “Oh my gods, my sister! She’s probably totally freaking out right now. I need to call her. She was expecting me to come by with take out.”  


Gendry raises a hand to her arm again, this time she lets him. “It’s okay. She was listed as your emergency contact. She knows what happened. The doctors told her to just stay home and wait for their call. Once your doctor has looked you over you can contact her.”  


Arya stares at him, a little confused. “Why didn’t they let my sister stay but you could?”  


A blush coats his cheeks, and Arya feels the desire to tease him and see the redness spread. “Well, when I brought you in they did not want to give me any information since I’m not your family, so I kind of told them you’re my soulmate.”  


Arya snorts, impressed by his quick thinking. “They believed you let your soulmate get harrassed?”  


Gendry shakes his head. “I told them the words on my body were something that you yelled and that I didn’t know you until I saved you. And by the way, I’d never let my soulmate get hurt. I’d always protect her.” He gives Arya an inscrutable look that she can’t decipher, and decides to ignore the comment.  


After a brief, awkward pause, Gendry clears his throat. “Let me call the doctor in, then I’ll give you some space.” He gets up and leaves the room. Five minutes later he comes back in, accompanied by a very tall, blonde woman with a doctor’s jacket on. Arya breathes out a sigh of relief. Thank the gods it’s Brienne.  


Gendry goes back to his place by her side while the woman fiddles with her clipboard. “Arya we have to stop meeting like this. How many times have you been in this same room?” When Arya doesn’t say anything, just gives her a look, she sighs. “I’m just going to give you a check up, and then you can call your sister okay?”  


Arya shifts restlessly. “Then am I free to go?”  


Brienne gives her a pitying smile. “Arya, you know how this goes, you’ve been in here enough times to know I have to keep you overnight. This is different than the other injuries you usually procure, this is a serious concussion that can cause problems in the future.” Brienne turns to Gendry. “Mr. Waters, I’m going to have to ask you to leave the room while I check on Arya. You can wait in the waiting room.”  


Gendry nods and turns to Arya. “I’ll call your sister while you talk to Dr. Brienne. Do you need anything?” In response, Arya’s stomach lets out a long growl. Gendry huffs out a laugh. “I guess I’ll also get you lunch.” Arya smiles, and before she can thank him, he’s out the door.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Gendry hangs up the phone after talking to Arya’s relieved older sister. He enters the cafeteria and groans at the list of unappealing food options, and realizes he has no idea what his soulmate likes. His soulmate who doesn’t even remember him. Gendry sighes lightly. He has no idea what to tell Arya. He isn’t sure how she’d take the news of him being her soulmate. He isn’t even sure she’d believe him, after all he could be lying to get with her. He grows angry just thinking of someone lying to his soulmate to get with her, using that bond. He knows people who have had that done to them before. His mother had it happen to her, and then after the night together, he revealed he had seen her soulmark and decided to use it to get with her. His mother kicked him out, but still ended up pregnant.  


The clearing of a throat interrupts Gendry’s thoughts, and he sees he is next in line to order. “I’ll have two cheeseburgers, two chocolate milkshakes, two bottles of water, and a thing of fries.” The cashier, whose name tag reads Nan, an elderly woman who has a kind smile gives him his change and gives his order to the cook. 

As Gendry waits he makes a plan. He decides not to tell Arya right away. He hopes that they can become friends, and once they get to know each other he will reveal that they are destined to be more than friends. He knows Arya is rich, she’s a Stark for fuck’s sake, and he doesn’t want her to feel like she has to be with him just because they are soulmates.  


Gendry’s thoughts begin to wander to Arya herself. Man she’s hot. When he picked her up to get her to the hospital he couldn’t help but think about how perfectly tiny she is. How she fit perfectly in his arms. Her hair was dark brown, and the perfect length for him to run his fingers through and probably the perfect amount to grip while they did other activities. And her eyes. Man her eyes are a beautiful light grey like the sky before a storm. He feels himself getting hard and shakes himself. Thankfully his name is called. He grabs the food and heads back to Arya’s room.  


When he gets to the room he is about to stay outside to make sure the doctor had left, but he sees a man enter the room. No, Gendry thinks, that will not do. Gendry slides through the door after him, and sees Arya chatting with the doctor and they both greet the male who just entered. “Hey Pod, I heard you just got promoted to nurse, congrats man!”  


The boy, Pod smiles at Arya, but the doctor interrupts when she sees Gendry. “Mr. Waters, we are still in the middle of the check up.”  


Arya rolls her eyes, “Brienne let him stay. As he said, he’s my soulmate.”  


The doctor, Brienne, snorts. “Yeah, and I’m soulmates with Jaime bloody Lannister.”  


Arya lets out a full laugh and Gendry is in awe. He has only heard snorts come from her and he loves her laugh. It is loud and full of mirth, but still short and clipped. He wants to know what she would sound like when she is laughing so hard tears slip from her eyes as she clutches her stomach. Then he registers what Dr. Brienne had said. Jaime Lannister is the twin brother of the Mayor of King’s Landing, a well-known playboy who only goes out with supermodels, and while Gendry likes Dr. Brienne, she is not a supermodel.  


Arya speaks again. “You’re right, but he did save my life, so he’s allowed in the room.” She then takes note of the bag in Gendry’s hand, and the burger smell wafting through the room. “And he’s brought food. Definitely allowed.” She holds out her hands and Gendry chuckles as he hands her one of the two bags in her hands. She rips the bag open and lets out a loud moan at all of the food. “Gendry Waters you are a saint sent by the old gods and the new.” She brings the burger to her mouth and takes a huge bight, not even worried about manners as juices drip down her chin.  


Gendry smiles at her and takes his seat. “I hope it’s okay if I eat as well. I haven’t had anything since last night.” Arya waves her hand showing that she doesn't care if he eats. As he unwraps his own burger he speaks, “your sister should be here in fifteen. She was at work but said her boss knew she would be leaving once you woke up. She just had to go get someone named Sandor, and she’ll be right over.”  


Arya brightens up. “Thank you for calling her. Sandor’s her soulmate. He’s okay. We weren’t friends for a while, but we’ve grown pretty close. Just an FYI, he got super burnt in a house fire when he was young, he has scars all across the right side of his face. Do not comment, do not stare. If you offend him you can leave my room.”  


Gendry is surprised by her ultimatum, as is Dr. Brienne. “Arya don’t be rude, he did save your life.”  


Arya shakes her head. “And I’m grateful, but he gets really self conscious about the burns and Sansa and I are trying to get it to stop.”  


Gendry admires his soulmate. It’s obvious how protective she is about the people she loves. He’s excited for the future when he may be one of those people. “You needn’t worry about me. I grew up in Flea Bottom, I’ve seen plenty of scars, burns, infections, and all types of illnesses. There isn’t much that’ll cause me to stare.”  


Before Arya can reply the door is thrown open and a tall woman with bright red hair runs in. Without pausing she throws herself at Arya, accidentally brushing her forehead. Arya lets out a quiet whine of pain, and Gendry has to hold himself back from taking the girl who he knows is Sansa, and throwing her across the room. Sansa immediately lets go and gushes out sorrys as she takes another seat by Arya and lightly touches the wrappings around her head. That is when Gendry sees the giant of a man who came in with her.  


Arya had been right. The scars across his face were noticeable, and look like they must have been very painful when he got them, but they are far from the worst things he had seen growing up. “Hi, you must be Sandor. I’m Gendry.” He holds his hand out to shake Sandor’s.  
Sandor looks at the hand, then to Gendry, then to Arya who is smiling lightly at him. He grunts and returns the handshake, slightly crushing his hand. Gendry doesn’t react. He works with these types of people all day. People who feel intimidated by his size and stature, or people who feel the need to exhibit dominance. Gendry doesn’t care, he just smiles and lets it happen. Sandor is the family member in this situation, and if he is to get Arya to like him, he has to get along with the people she includes in her family.  


That seems like it was the right thing to do as Sandor chuckles and claps him on the back. “You’re alright kid. Thanks for saving the little wolf here.”  


Gendry opens his mouth to respond when something hits him in the chest. Sansa had, without him realizing it, gotten up and thrown herself at him, wrapping her arms around him. “Thank you so much for being there. How can we repay you?”  


Gendry awkwardly pats her on the back and Arya groans. “Sansa come on the poor guy is getting skewered by the Hound here. Let Gendry go and we can have a normal conversation.” Gendry looks at Sandor, or “the Hound” as Arya had called him, and sees that he is indeed glaring at Sansa in Gendry’s arms. Sansa lets him go and smacks Sandor on the chest before grabbing his hand and taking him to the chair and curling up on his lap.  


Gendry takes the other seat and realizes Dr. Brienne and nurse Pod are still there. “Sansa we must meet outside of the hospital. I feel like we are friends, but the only time I see you is when you have to come to pick Arya up after an injury.”  


Gendry feels himself growing anxious. Why does Arya get hurt? Is there someone in her life who hurts her? Arya seems to notice his confusion. “I like to do some kind of dangerous stuff and end up in here more than I probably should.”  


Sandor snorts and Sansa glares at her. “Kind of dangerous stuff? Just two months ago you took a trip to Storm’s End and cliff dived into Shipbreaker’s Bay. You call that kind of dangerous? That place has that name for a reason. You broke your arm and three ribs. Thank the gods Rickon was there to pull you out.”  
Gendry stares at Arya in surprise and he sees a light red cover her cheeks. He’s gonna have to keep his eye on this girl constantly to make sure she doesn’t get hurt. 

Arya clears her throat awkwardly. “Yeah, Brienne, our cousin is getting married in a couple months. You should definitely come. Bring Pod as your date. I’ll get Jon to send you an invitation.”  


Brienne smiles, “Thank you Arya, that would be wonderful.”  


Sansa turns to Gendry. “You should come as well.” Arya groans but Sansa continues. “Our parents and siblings want to meet the man who protected Arya. You’re kind of a hero now.”  


Gendry goes red. “I don’t know about being a hero. I did what any sane person would do. I don’t need a thank you or an invitation. I’m just happy you’re okay.” He says the last part to Arya who begins slurping at her milkshake. Sansa lightly frowns at the sound, but does not say anything. There is a lull in the conversation where the only sound is Arya’s milkshakes.  


Brienne sighs and gathers her things. “I have to go check on my other patients. Please stay as long as you’d like Sansa, but Arya cannot leave today, no matter what she tells you.”  


Sansa giggles and leans back into Sandor. “Don’t worry. I learned my lesson after the first time she tried that on me.” Arya frowns for a second before smiling at Brienne as Pod and she leave.  


Arya sighs and leans back into the pillows, Gendry can see her energy sapping out of her. He gets up, “alright, maybe we should all leave you to sleep.” Arya tries to protest, but Sansa and Sandor had noticed the same thing as Gendry and are getting up and gathering their things.  


Sansa places her hand on Arya’s hair and leans over and lightly kisses the bandage. “Get better little sister, I’ll come pick you up in the morning. I’m so happy you are okay.”  


With tears lightly in her eyes she turns and quickly leaves the room. Sandor squeezes Arya’s shoulder. “Get better little wolf, your sister hates seeing you hurt.” Arya smiles as he leaves.  


Then it is just Gendry and Arya. She turns to him and he shifts from one foot to the other, nervously. “I don’t know if I’ve truly expressed that I’m very thankful for what you did. I hate talking about my feelings in front of people, but I really do owe you a lot. Whatever you want I’ll give you. If you don’t mind, would you ask Sansa for my phone number? My head has really started pounding and thinking is kinda killing me.”  


Gendry walks over to her and lightly sits on her bed. What he really wants to ask is for her to accept him and be his soulmate, but he knows he can’t bring it up now. It would just be awkward. “I really would’ve done it for anyone, and I’m happy I got there before you got seriously hurt or more. I don’t want a favor, but maybe I can get your number from your sister and we could hang out sometime.”  


Arya smiles lightly, “I think I’d like that.” She closes her eyes, and Gendry knows the conversation is over.  


Gendry leaves the room and sees Sansa. “Um, do you think I could get Arya’s number? She wants me to have it but her head was hurting too badly to talk.” Sansa writes it down on a piece of paper and hands it to him.  


She grabs Gendry’s hand. “Thank you so much for everything you did. I know you said you’d do it for anyone, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was my sister and you stepped into danger to save her. You’re a good man Gendry Waters. I hope we see each other again.”  
She steps forward and hugs him. When she lets go she says goodbye, grabs Sandor’s hand, and they leave the hospital. Gendry feels a weight lift off his shoulders. At least one of Arya’s family members like him. That’s a start.


	3. Chapter Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya and Gendry spend more time together. Also, this chapter ended up being longer than I expected, so I decided to split my plan for one chapter up into two. This means that the fic will be 6 chapters instead of 5.

The next morning Gendry is woken by his phone ringing. He has two days off from work so he knows it’s not his alarm, so he actually checks the screen. An unknown number flashes so he ignores it. As soon as it stops ringing it starts again. Groaning, Gendry picks up. “Hello?”  


A panicked Sansa answers. “Gendry?” When he affirms she plows on. “This is Sansa Stark from yesterday. Listen, I hate to ask this of you, but I’m supposed to pick Arya up in twenty minutes, but my boss just gave me a story that is happening in thirty minutes. Sandor is also at work, and Jon, our cousin is doing his suit fitting for the wedding. I know I’m asking a lot, especially because you don’t know us, but would you mind picking her up and taking her to my apartment? I’ll text you the address.”  


Smiling, Gendry is about to accept when he realizes he doesn’t have a car. “Um Sansa, I’d be happy to help, but I don’t have a car.”  


Sansa is quiet for a beat before plowing on. “You can take my car. I’ll leave the keys in it. I work at The Lion’s Den. Have you heard of it?”  


Gendry freezes, of course he knows The Lion’s Den. It is the most prestigious newspaper in the country. He can’t believe Sansa is a reporter for them. “Yeah I know it, it’s only a few blocks from where I live. I can walk there, get your car, and get Arya.”  


“Oh thank you so much Gendry! My car is the silver Audi A6. You’ll see it in the parking lot. I owe you big time.” Sansa sounds so grateful that Gendry can’t bring himself to be jealous about her car.  


After they hang up and Gendry gets ready, he walks to The Lion’s Den. The Lion’s Den is a newspaper office that is right on main street, a couple of blocks from Flea Bottom where Gendry lives. It’s big building huge windows that take up the entire front side and are tinted red so it looks like the building is a large red rock. People jokingly call it Casterly Rock, as it used to be owned by the Casterly family, but was bought by the Lannisters five years ago. They turned the newspaper into the megahit it is today. Jaime Lannister, the brother of the Mayor is the current Editor in Chief, and he seems to have done the brunt of the work to get it so popular.  


Gendry isn’t able to find Sansa’s car as easily as she seemed to think he would. It is one Audi in a sea of them. Thankfully there are a lot of black and red cars that he can rule out, but he finally had to text her to get the license plate. Once he gets to the car he gets nervous. He’s never driven something so nice in his life. He’s lucky that his mom’s friend Yoren had been able to teach him how to drive, and took him to get his license, so he can do it without law trouble, but he’s terrified he will wreck it. Once Gendry gets over the shock, he realizes he’s late to pick Arya up. He hops into the car and drives out of the parking lot. Thankfully the hospital is close so it’s only a ten minute car ride to get there. He enters and sees Arya in a wheelchair right next to the doors with Brienne and Pod with her. When she sees him she gets a confused look on her face, but she smiles.  


“Gendry? What are you doing here? Did you save another girl in a back alley last night?”  


Gendry smirks, “nah, just the one. Your sister got put on some assignment last minute and needed someone to pick you up. Sandor and your cousin were both busy, so here I am.” He spreads his arms to the sides in a “ta da” motion and she chuckles and uses her arms to roll past him. “Um, I’m not sure your wheelchair will fit in your sister’s car.”  


She turns back to him to roll her eyes. “I just need the wheelchair until I’m off of the hospital premise. It’s some stupid rule.”  


Brienne sighs, “Arya, you know why that rule is in place.”  


Brienne is about to continue but Arya waves her off. “Bye Brienne, bye Pod. See you guys at the wedding, if not before.”  


Brienne groans. “Don’t be getting injured before the wedding. Jon will kill you.” Arya doesn’t respond, and waits for Gendry to unlock the car. He waves to Brienne and Pod, before helping Arya into the car. Pod hurries over and grabs the wheelchair.  


Once they are both in the car Gendry looks at her. “Alright, where do you want to go?”  


Arya bites her lip before responding. “I’m starving. Can we get something to eat?”  


Gendry nods, knowing he is hungry as well. “Yeah, I know this little diner. Does that work?” Arya smiles and nods her assent, so he makes his way there. 

They arrive at Hot Pie’s in fifteen minutes. Gendry rushes out of the car to get Arya’s door. He opens it and jokingly holds his hand out to her. “M’lady.” She freezes with her hand in his, one foot out of the door, and stares at him. Gendry also pauses when he realizes what he said, but Arya seems to brush it off as she gets fully out of the car and doesn’t comment on the slip up. Inside is the stereotypical diner set up. Red and white checkered floors, booths with cracked vinyl seating, and a nice greasy aroma that makes any stomach grumble. 

Arya takes a deep breath. “Mmm, smells great. I’ve been wanting some real food all yesterday and this morning. I hate hospital food.”  


Gendry hums in agreement and leads her to a booth. Once they are seated Gendry’s friend Lommy comes up to them. “Gendry! What’s up man? Who’s this?”  


Gendry fist bumps Lommy. “This is Arya. We met two nights ago in Flea Bottom.”  


Arya snorts and rolls her eyes. “More like he saved my life in Flea Bottom. I was getting beaten up and he stepped in and got me to the hospital.”  


Lommy chortles and shoves Gendry’s shoulder. “Man you need to stop with the superhero lifestyle. It’s hard for the rest of us to get girls.”  


Gendry rolls his eyes and gives Lommy a friendly shove. “Just take our order. I’ll have coffee, black, and two eggs over easy on toast with a side of bacon, burnt.”  


Lommy doesn’t even write it down, it’s his usual order. Arya hums as she takes a quick glance. “And I’ll also have a black coffee, and the eggs Benedict please.”  


Lommy scribbles her order down. “And tell Hot Pie I’m here.” Lommy waves as he heads behind the counter to put the order in.  


Arya glances around and then back at Gendry. “How do you know those guys?”  


Gendry smirks as he hears Lommy and Hot Pie argue about an order. “We used to live together when we were younger. We all grew up in Flea Bottom and were the local street rats for most of our lives. Man we wreaked some havoc back then.”  


Arya chuckles. “I bet all of the shop owners are the same people and still shiver when they hear your names.” Gendry laughs but doesn’t refute it.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Arya can’t stop staring at Gendry. When he said “m’lady” she had almost said something. She knew it didn’t make sense, as they had met yesterday, but she can’t help thinking he’s the one. She thinks she wouldn’t be too bummed. He’s totally gorgeous, with the hair, eyes, skin, and he’s super fucking tall. He towers over her, and usually that makes her feel helpless and weak, he makes it seem more like one of those big dogs that listens to whatever the smaller dog wants. Then there’s his voice. Everytime he speaks it sends shivers down her spin, and don’t even ask about his laugh. God she wants to jump him everytime he does that throaty chuckle.  


She couldn’t believe what she was seeing when he came into the waiting room. She had resigned herself to her sister’s constant needling for the rest of the day, but had been pleasantly surprised when he had shown up instead. She almost wants to think her sister did it on purpose, but knows that while Sansa loves to play matchmaker, she wouldn’t do it by sacrificing Arya’s health, and she knows Sansa had looked up all the ways to care for a concussion patient.  
Arya tunes back in to what Gendry is saying. “So you’ve got Sansa and your cousin Jon, any other family?”  


Arya brightens up when she thinks about her siblings. “Yeah, I’ve got an older brother named Robb, and two younger brothers, Bran and Rickon. Robb’s 24, Sansa’s 23, Bran is 20, and Rickon is 17. We’re all super close. The rest of them live up north, but Sansa and I both went to King’s Landing University so we’re here.”  


Gendry stares at her, and seems truly interested in what she’s saying so she keeps babbling. “We also all have half wolf dogs, mine’s name is Nymeria, but I had to keep her in the north. My apartment is way too small for a dog, and Nymeria’s huge. I think out of everyone I miss her the most. They were all presents from my dad one Christmas, when I was twelve. She’s super great. Did you have any pets growing up?”  


Gendry’s smile turns sad. “No. My mom died when I was ten, and before that we were too poor to have a pet. After that I lived in foster houses that sometimes had cats to keep the mice at bay, but they weren’t pets. Now it’s the same as you. Apartment is too small.”  


They keep talking until their food arrives. Arya can’t seem to shut up and tells him all about her life, which she never does. She usually doesn’t like anyone besides her family, but something about Gendry just gets her to open up. She takes a long look at his face. It must be because he’s so open. She can tell everything that he’s thinking and it makes her trust him. Her stomach grumbles, and she digs in. She closes her eyes and lets out a long, low moan at the taste of the food. It’s to die for. She opens her eyes and sees Gendry staring at her with a glimmer in his eyes that Arya can’t identify. He sees her looking and shifts in his seat. “Good isn’t it? Hot Pie cooks great food. When we were younger he worked at this street vendor for years and always gave Lommy and me free food. The owner taught him everything, and when she died she gave him all her money, and it was enough to open this place.”  


After they finish a chubby man with a smiling face comes to the table. Gendry brightens and gets up to give the man a hug. “Hot Pie it’s good to see you.” They slap each other on the back before breaking apart. Hot Pie instantly goes red at seeing Arya. “Dude, this is Arya, the girl I told you about from the other night.”  
Hot Pie gasps. “I’m so sorry that happened to you. Food’s on the house.” Gendry tries to refuse, but Hot Pie ignores him. Arya isn’t listening. She’s too busy thinking about how Gendry told him about her. She knows, rationally, that he probably just told him the story because he was the hero, but something makes her think that maybe it was because of her. She hopes it’s because of her. She shakes herself, she shouldn’t be thinking this way about someone who isn’t her soulmate. It’s wrong.  


Arya tunes into the conversation when Gendry turns to her. “Ready to go?”  


Arya smiles and nods. “Thanks for the food Hot Pie. Maybe I’ll see you around.” Hot Pie smiles and waves as they exit the diner.  


Gendry turns to her. “So what do you want to do now?”  


Arya sighs. “I guess go to my sister’s even though she won’t be there for a few hours. I just want to go to my place, but she’ll want me at her place so she can watch over me.”  


They get into the car and Gendry rubs the back of his head. “You know, I live really close to The Lion’s Den. We could drop her car off there and then head to my place until she’s done. Then you won’t be alone.” Arya feels her hackles raise and is about to tell him that she doesn’t care about being alone and doesn’t need to be taken care of, but he interrupts. “Not that you can’t take care of yourself, but it’ll probably save you an argument with your sister. Anyways, it would probably be pretty boring at your sister’s place. This way we can watch TV or something together.”  


Arya relaxes and finds herself nodding. “Yeah that would be great.” He turns and smiles at her before turning the car on and pulling out of the parking lot. Arya smiles back. I’ve got to be careful, or else this’ll turn into something it definitely shouldn’t.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Gendry can’t help but freak out as he’s driving to Arya’s sister’s office. She said yes! She said yes! He knows he should tell her the truth, but he decides to do it after she sees his apartment. His whole life is in the tiny shithole and even though she didn’t treat him differently after learning about where he’s from and his past, she might act differently after seeing it in the flesh. He pulls into the same parking spot Sansa had it in earlier, and again helps Arya out of the car. She seems to be doing fine. She ate her whole breakfast and hasn’t said anything about nausea or a headache, but she also doesn’t seem like the type of person to complain about something like that. He decides to ask her about it when they get to his place, where he can give her Advil or something.  


When they get to his apartment he lets her scope the place out. It has two rooms. The bathroom and then everything else. He has a tiny kitchen in the front left part of the kitchen, and a beaten up couch with a TV on the opposite side of the room. Further back is his bedroom only separated by a curtain. It has a full size bed, a small table, and a dresser. He watches Arya taking it in, but she doesn’t seem to care. She barely glances around before returning her attention to him. “Could I get some water? And maybe an Advil? I’ve been feeling fine, but I think the sun has started to give me a little bit of a headache.”  


Gendry rushes to get her the things she asks for. He turns to her while filling up the water. “Do you also need a new bandage or anything?”  


Arya shakes her head. “No, this is coming off in a couple days. They just want to make sure the stitches heal more before exposing them to the elements. They also say I’ll have a scar, but I think they look pretty badass.”  


Without thinking Gendry responds, “And sexy.” He freezes as soon as he says it and slowly turns to look at Arya. He sees her barely stopping from laughing, but her eyes are bright with mirth.  


“Yes, and sexy.” She then bursts out laughing but quickly stops with a groan. Gendry gives her the water then motions to the bathroom.  


“Here, the Advil’s in the bathroom. It’s above the sink. You can go get it and go to the bathroom if you need or whatever.” Arya smiles at him thankfully before going into the adjoining room.  


Having nothing else to do, Gendry goes over to the couch and turns the TV on. He flicks through the channels until he finds a soccer game going. Winterfell Direwolves against Storm’s End Stags. He brightens up, this should be a good game. Gendry doesn’t know much about his dad, all his mom said was that he was from Storm’s End. This means he always roots for the opposing team. He also assumes Arya likes the wolves since she’s from Winterfell.  


The bathroom door opens and he sees her come out wearing one of his sweatshirts he hung up to dry. “Hey, I hope you don’t mind but I saw this in there and I’m a little… Oh gods is that the Direwolves game?” She rushes over to the couch and plops down right next to him, carefully making sure the water doesn’t slosh out of the glass. She puts it down on the table and curls into a ball and snuggles into the couch. “I love the Direwolves.”  


Gendry chuckles. He knew it. After her questioning glance he answers. “I assumed you would like them. I’m also going for them.”  


She looks confused. “Why? Storm’s End is closer to here than the north.”  


Gendry shrugs, a little uncomfortable. “I don’t know much about my dad, but I know he’s from Storm’s End. Therefore, I am against Storm’s End.”  


Arya nods in understanding. “I agree, I mean, I think all other teams suck, but it’s good to know we can be friends. I don’t know if I can get along with anyone who roots for the Krakens.”  


Gendry snorts. The Iron Islands Krakens are notoriously bad because the islands are more known for swimming, not soccer. They are quiet for a little while as they watch the game, but at halftime Gendry decides to ask the question that’s been plaguing him. “Listen, as I was approaching you and the guys I heard you say ‘not today’. What does that mean?”  


Arya freezes and blushes lightly. “Well, when I was younger my dad hired me a sword instructor from Braavos. In Braavos they pray only to the God of Death. Syrio, my instructor, told me there is only one thing you say to the God of Death, which is ‘not today’. That’s kind of been my motto, as you probably gathered after talking to Brienne and Sansa about my usual antics. It just kind of reassures me, and I hoped that he would hear me and not take me.” At Gendry’s reluctant gaze she shrugs. “I mean, I’m here aren’t I? It seems to me like it worked.”  


Gendry decides not to dispute this, and unmutes the TV as the game starts again. Arya lets out a yawn and lets her head fall onto his shoulder. Gendry slouches a little so it’s more comfortable for her, and before he knows it, her breath has evened out. He turns his head and sees her eyes closed and her mouth slightly parted. She’s fallen asleep.


	4. Chapter Four

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gendry is not as subtle as he thinks, but Arya remains oblivious. Gendry gets to meet Ygritte and Jon.

It’s two weeks later when Gendry finds himself in The Night’s Watch, Arya’s cousin Jon’s restaurant. He’s excited. Arya and he have been growing close over the weeks, and he has heard too much about Jon not to be completely overwhelmed, but happiness, but also nerves. He’s learned how important he is to Arya, and he wants Jon to like him. He has a feeling that if Jon doesn’t, Arya won’t stay with him, soulmate bond or not.  


Over the weeks he has felt like the bond has grown stronger. He finds himself waking up to texts from Arya, and falling asleep in the middle of late night conversations about their lives. His fondest memory of the time they’ve spent together is when Arya got her bandage off. He hadn’t even known she was coming over, and when he had come out of the bedroom portion of his apartment after hearing the front door open and close, he had been pleasantly surprised at seeing his soulmate holding a Hot Pie’s to go bag with two egg sandwiches. He had also noticed the missing white patch over her right eye, showing off an impressive scar that stretches from the middle of her forehead to the end of her eyebrow. “Isn’t it so badass?” She had asked him. Gendry hadn’t known what to say; he’d been right when he said scars are sexy. Seeing hers made him want to run his lips, and maybe tongue, over it to show her just how much he liked it.  


Gendry shifts in the booth, feeling his jeans tighten, and he fights a groan. Just yesterday he had visited Arya at The Faceless Men, the dojo she works at. They had competed against each other, and he had been surprised at how easily matched they were. Even though he isn’t the best fighter, his strength gave him an advantage over her small size, but her speed kept her just out of his reach. Her boss, Jaqen H’ghar had been impressed by the fight and had offered him a part time job, but he hadn’t wanted to step over his bounds by invading her work space. Also, the way he had said, “a boy is good. A boy would fit in well here.” Kind of freaked him out. The fight had ended up being a draw, but he still had bruises on his arms, legs, and chest, reminding him of how good his soulmate is at sticking up for herself.  


All of a sudden Sansa appears out of nowhere, plopping down across from him. She scooches over and Sandor slides in next to her, casually throwing an arm around her shoulders. She beams at Gendry. “Hi! How are you? I feel like it’s been forever since we’ve seen each other!” Gendry smiles at her, knowing the last time they’d seen each other had been the evening of the day Arya had been released from the hospital. After she had fallen asleep on his shoulder, he had picked her up and carried her to his bed. He spent the rest of the afternoon watching sports. He had sent a quick text to Sansa after Arya fell asleep telling her where to get her sister, and when she arrived he’d felt reluctant to wake Arya up. When she did awake, she had looked at Gendry is complete shock, as if she was not used to falling asleep like that, and then had apologized profusely. Gendry had been elated to know that his soulmate was getting more comfortable with him, but he didn’t say anything except a goodbye, and they had made plans for the next day to get lunch.  


Sandor interrupts his thinking. “Where’s the little wolf?”  


Gendry shrugs. “It’s Arya. She’s always late.”  


Sansa gets a loving smile on her face before her eyes narrow in suspicion. “Okay Gendry, what’s your deal? I appreciate all you’ve done for my sister but you seem more invested in this than you should be.”  


Sandor nods in agreement and Gendry feels himself pale. “Um, I’m not sure I know what you’re saying. I just like your sister. I think she’s cool and just want to be her friend.”  


Sansa raises an eyebrow and Gendry runs his hand through his hair nervously. Her eyes zero in on his wrist. “Uh huh, and what’s that on your wrist? Your soulwords I suppose?”  


Before Gendry can yank his arm away, Sandor has it in his grip, and he pushes his sweater away. They all stare at the words Not today displayed across the inside of his wrist. There is a pause before Sansa lets out a squeal. “Oh man I knew it! I knew you guys are soulmates. Arya didn’t want to get her hopes up, but after you said M’lady I just couldn’t stop thinking about how perfect you are for each other. I can’t wait to tell her.”  


Gendry shakes his head but feels himself smile when Sansa talks about Arya having hopes about him. “Sansa you can’t tell her. I want to be the one to reveal it and explain everything to her.”  


Sansa goes to object, but Sandor puts his hand on her arm. “Little bird let him do it. All I want to know is why you haven’t yet.”  


Sansa looks back to Gendry and he sighs. “I didn’t want her to think I took advantage of the situation. I found her after she was assaulted, I didn’t know how that would make her react. I also didn’t want her to feel like she has to be with a low life orphan from Flea Bottom if she doesn’t want to be. I’m just waiting for the right time to tell her. I promise it’ll be soon.”  


Sansa opens her mouth, but is interrupted by Arya’s arrival. “Hey, sorry I’m late. Have you ordered?” She drops down next to Gendry and grabs his water glass and takes a large gulp. “Waif wanted to go over some more fighting techniques and wouldn’t let me leave. I’m completely exhausted.”  


Gendry smiles at her. Gods she’s beautiful. Even post workout, with her hair still a little damp, and her yoga pants and sweatshirt the only pieces of clothing on her body, the way her skin shines after doing her job looks like the sun to him. “No we haven’t ordered. Sansa and Sandor just got here.”  


Arya squeals as the waitress, a tall red head, appears. “Ygritte! What are you doing working? You should be relaxing before your wedding!” Ygritte laughs and hugs Arya. Gendry is surprised at the woman. She looks to be a few years older than Arya, maybe a year younger than Gendry, and she has freckles scattered across her face. Whenever Arya talked about Ygritte, she talked about how badass, sassy, and ‘awesome’ she is. The woman standing in front of Gendry didn’t seem like that person at all.  


Ygritte rubs Arya’s head. “Don’t worry, everything’s going great. Tormund needed the night off so I’m filling in for him.” Ygritte turns her gaze on Gendry. Her eyes turn cold and assessing as she looks him up and down. “So, you’re Gendry? The boy who saved Arya?” The way she looks at him and the way she speaks makes Gendry realize that everything Arya had said about her was true, she just hides it better.  


He squirms and sees Sansa try to cover a giggle, and Sandor smirking at him. “Uh, yeah, that’s me. It’s nice to meet you. Arya talks about you all the time. Congrats on the wedding.” Gendry shakes her head and her frown turns into a smile.  


She punches his shoulder. “Ah, you’re okay dude. Anyone who protects the little wolf here is okay in my books. Let me get your order and then I’ll send Jon out.” After everyone orders she heads back into the kitchen.  


Gendry meets Arya’s surprisingly light gaze. She grins at him. “Ygritte likes you. That’s a good sign. It took Jon weeks to get into her good graces and he’s her soulmate. You’ll fit right in at the wedding.” Gendry startles. He hadn’t thought she wanted him at the wedding.  


Arya sees his shocked look and rolls her eyes. “C’mon, now that you’re my best friend you can go to the wedding as my date.” She lightly pushes his shoulder with hers but sits up straight when a medium sized man with black hair in a half man bun and a beard arrives at the table. Arya smiles and jumps into his arms. “Jon! I’m so happy you’re back from Winterfell. I’ve missed you.”  


Jon, Arya’s cousin squeezes her in his arms. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t be here while you were healing. The wedding plans have been crazy.” He turns the same look Ygritte had on Gendry. “So this is the man I have to thank for your protection?”  


Arya groans and rolls her eyes. “I can protect myself thanks. I’m so sick of people thinking I’m a helpless maiden. But yes, this is Gendry.” Arya smiles lightly at him.  


Gendry shakes Jon’s hand. “It’s nice to meet you. Arya definitely would’ve had it under control if that one dickhead hadn’t hit her on the head with the rock. She was seriously kicking ass when I arrived.” He sees a light blush cover Arya’s cheeks and she glances at the drink Jon had brought, and starts sipping it.  


Jon watches her reaction in stunned silence. “Yeah I know she can stick up for herself, but thank you all the same.” He looks between Arya and Gendry. “So, are the two of you soulmates?”  


Sansa and Sandor send Gendry startled looks, and he can’t reply. Arya laughs loudly, albeit a little awkwardly. “Um no Jon. I think I would remember him saying ‘m’lady’.” Gendry winces.  


Jon notices his reaction and his eyes narrow. “Uh huh, Gendry, can we talk for a minute?”  


Gendry wants to disappear but he nods and gets up. Sansa sends him a pitying look.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Arya watches as Jon and Gendry walk away. She turns back and sees Sansa and Sandor studying her. “What?” Sandor huffs a laugh.  


Sansa sighs. “Okay, what’s going on between the two of you?”  


Arya crosses her arms defensively. “Nothing. Why would something be going on? We’re not soulmates. He’s just become a good friend.” She is definitely lying. The more they hang out the more her crush grows. She just feels like they are a perfect match. Everytime she sees him she wants to jump him, and run her fingers through his hair, and her tongue over his abs. Okay she needs to stop thinking about this. When he comes to the dojo and starts to fight without a shirt, or when she visits him at the blacksmith’s and his biceps are on display she gets all hot and bothered, something no one has been able to do before.  


Sansa hums doubtfully. “I don’t think that’s all it is Arya.” Arya glances at Sansa and then away.  


“What do you want me to say? That I feel awful for liking him because I have a soulmate out there? That when he said m’lady a while back all I could think about was how I wish he was my soulmate more than anything? That all I can think about when we’re together is that I want to be with him so badly it’s a physical ache? Is that what you want me to say?”  


Sansa and Sandor stare in shock. Arya isn’t surprised. She rarely opens up about her feelings, but this Gendry predicament has really gotten to her. Sansa’s eyes go soft and she reaches across the table to squeeze Arya’s hand. “No that’s not what I want you to say. I’m sorry you feel that way, but I think you should really talk to Gendry. He might feel the same way.”  


Arya shakes her head. “It doesn’t matter if he feels the same way. I won’t take someone’s soulmate from them.”  


Sansa just sighs. “Just, please talk to him before the wedding. I don’t want something to happen on Jon and Ygritte’s day.”  


Arya glares at her sister. “I would never do something on their special day. I mean seriously Sansa, I’m not a bitch.”  


Sandor snorts. “That’s debatable.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


They walk around the corner near the bathrooms. Jon crosses his arms. “So, when are you going to tell Arya you’re her soulmate?”  


Gendry rubs the back of his neck. “What do you mean? Arya just said she didn’t hear the right words.”  


Jon rolls his eyes. “Yeah and I also saw your reaction along with Sansa’s and Sandor’s. You probably said it during the fight and she can’t remember right?”  


Gendry sighs and looks at the ground. “Yes. At first I didn’t want to spring it on her, or make her feel like I was taking advantage of her. Then I was worried she wouldn’t actually want to be with me because I’m a bastard from Flea Bottom. Now I just don’t know how to bring it up.”  


Jon stares at him and lets his answer sink in. “Whatever man, I’d tell her before the wedding though. It’s our whole family and she always gets pestered about finding her soulmate. The rest of us have ours and even though she pretends like she doesn’t care, she definitely does.”  


Gendry nods. “Okay, yeah, I can do that. Thanks Jon.”  


Gendry does not do that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone, so I'm planning on writing more fics after this one. Let me know if you want more set in this universe, aka Sansa/Sandor, Ygritte/Jon, or a couple that'll be introduced next chapter. Also if you have an idea you'd like me to write just comment on this story and I'll try to write one.


	5. Chapter Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The wedding! Gendry meets the entire family, and two people have soulmate revelations at this joyous event.

The week of the wedding Arya is panicking. On top of helping Ygritte as one of the bridesmaids she has also spent a lot of time thinking about Gendry. They have spent almost all of their time together. He’s gone with her to run errands for the bride, he’s been there to walk her home after work (much to her annoyance), and worst of all, he keeps calling her m’lady. She doesn’t think he even realizes he does it, and it gets on her last nerve. A needle pricks her skin and she hisses at the woman doing her dress adjustments.  


Ygritte groans. “Arya, just let Mrs. Mordane do her job.” Arya grumbles but stands still and looks in the mirror. She has to hand it to Ygritte, she has great taste in dresses. She has three bridesmaids, Sansa, Arya, and her best friend/maid of honor Gilly. Each will be wearing midnight blue dresses, but of different styles. Gilly will have a modest, long sleeve, floor length dress. Sansa will have a floor length, velvet, sleeveless dress. Arya will have a dress with a high collar that stops at her knees, and flares out at her waist. To accompany Ygritte’s white wedding dress, she will have sapphire jewelry. Sansa and Gilly have finished their measurements, and it’s only Arya left.  


Finally when it’s over they all go to lunch and drink champagne. Arya tries not to wrinkle her nose. She is not a fan of the stuff, she likes much more strong choices, but she knows her soon-to-be sister-in-law wants to celebrate having finished the last of the wedding preparations. Instead of going to The Night’s Watch, they go to a small patisserie called Old Nan’s. Arya shoves a chocolate croissant into her mouth, famished. She freezes however, when all three women turn to look at her.  


Gilly is the first to speak. “So, Ygritte has been telling me about your new man.”  


Arya frowns slightly. She had been hoping this day would take her mind off of the mess that is her relationship with Gendry. “He’s not my man. We’re just friends. He isn’t even my soulmate.” Arya is barely able to keep from sighing in disappointment. She never thought she would be the type of girl to be sad someone isn’t her soulmate, she always assumed she’d feel caged and forced when she met the man. Now she knows that’s how it’ll be, as she has a feeling that she's falling hard for the blacksmith.  


Sansa sighs in irritation. “Arya, I really think you should talk to him. You both have been beating around the subject, and it’ll blow up in your face if you keep ignoring it.”  


Arya knows Sansa’s right, but for the first time in her life, Arya’s allowing herself to be a coward. Yes Arya wants to talk to Gendry about it, but she’s afraid he won’t feel the same and it’ll ruin the first friendship she’s had outside of her family and their soulmates. She’s liking having someone who is solely hers, and not her family’s. “I promise, after the wedding we’ll talk. Okay?”  


Ygritte and Sansa share an exasperated look, but they let it go. “Well, just make sure he wears a tie to match your dress.” Ygritte says this and then takes an entire petit-four and scarfs it down.  


Arya stares at her. “Aren’t the groomsmen the only ones supposed to be wearing those ties?”  


Ygritte shrugs. “He’s your date and you’re one of my bridesmaids. It’ll look weird if he doesn’t have the same tie.”  


Arya groans, knowing she would have to take him tie shopping. The conversation turns to talking about when Sansa will get engaged, and Arya tries to forget about the stupid bull for just a little while.

A week later Arya finds herself jammed into the backseat of Sandor’s truck beside Gendry. Their bags are all in the back and Arya’s let herself spread out a little. Gendry has the seat behind Sansa because he needs more leg room, but this leaves Arya scrunched up even with her short stature. She ends up putting her legs onto the middle seat, her feet on his thigh. She knows it’s ridiculous, but just the small amount of contact sets her heart fluttering. Gendry doesn’t seem to be affected, so she ignores it. She has a book in her lap, a fictionalized tale of Queen Nymeria, Arya’s hero. The poor book is battered. Arya’s had it since she was ten and always turns to it when she’s overwhelmed, emotional, or just wanting the comfort of her favorite book. Right now it’s all three.  


The day after the dress fitting, Arya had taken Gendry to get his tie. Neither of them like shopping so it consisted of a lot of complaining on both sides, but they ended up finding the perfect one. They had been in a small suit store, their third try at the perfect color, and they had both seen it at the same time. They both reached for it, and their hands touched. It wasn’t the first time they had accidentally touched like that, but Arya found herself wanting those hands on her body. That was when she had to admit to herself that she was falling in love. Now, sitting with him in the back of Sandor’s truck, watching him quietly sing along to the lyrics on the radio, his hand absentmindedly running his fingers down her leg, she realizes just how far gone she is. Man I am in some deep shit.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Gendry is debating throwing caution to the wind and dragging Arya to him by her leg to kiss her. The enticing, beautifully sculpted leg is across his left leg, and her foot is in the dip between his spread out legs. He keeps making sure her leg is far enough away not to notice the thickness in his pants, but looking at her, he can tell she isn’t really present with them, her mind far off somewhere else. He knows he should have spoken to her before the wedding, but they had been having so much fun he didn’t want to ruin it. He has a feeling that this far into their friendship, telling her will ruin everything. He watches her pick up her favorite book and he falls asleep subtely watching her read. 

By the time they get to Winterfell Gendry has gathered his composure. They are met at the truck by two large direwolves. Both Sansa and Arya leap out of the car to great the pets. Nymeria approaches Gendry first, and doesn’t even sniff his hand before licking him. Arya stares at him in shock, and he understands why. She told him Nymeria doesn’t like most people immediately. Lady delicately sniffs his hand before tapping his hand with her tongue and going back to Sansa. The four of them move to the castle and wait for the Starks to come out. Arya is bouncing on her feet, and hanging onto his arm, he can practically taste her excitement. Once the first family member, an older man with brown hair and grey eyes, Gendry assumes it’s Ned, walks out Sansa and Arya break their composure and run into his arms. Following Ned is Catelyn, Robb, Bran, and Rickon, along with Robb’s wife Talysa, Bran’s soulmate Meera, and Rickon’s betrothed Shireen. Gendry stands slightly to the side, joined by Sandor, as the family reunites. “Don’t worry, you get used to the closeness of the family after a while.”  


Gendry looks at Sandor, and remembers that he didn’t have a good home life growing up either. “Do you consider them your family?”  


Sandor snorts. “Sansa’s the only family I have, and the only family I want. I’m not into that sentimental shit.”  


Gendry nods but doesn’t relate. He is nervous thinking that Arya’s family won’t like him. Most of them may not know he’s her soulmate, but he’s still a bastard from Flea Bottom; they may not even want him as her friend. Ned is the first to break from the group and says hello to Sandor, then he turns to Gendry. Once they are face to face he freezes and just stares at him. Gendry starts fidgeting and feeling nervous, even Arya senses something is wrong, as she frowns at her father. After she clears her throat, he snaps out of it. “Ah, Gendry. It’s nice to meet you. Sorry if I embarrassed you. You just remind me of an old friend. Please, come in.” Gendry looks around and sees all of the Stark kids are confused, but Catelyn is looking at him strangely as well. Gendry shakes off the weird feeling, and follows Ned into the castle.  


Gendry is amazed at how similar Winterfell is to how Arya had described it. He thought she had over exaggerated a lot of its size, stature, and room quantity, but entering the building, he can see that she was dead on with everything. Knowing Arya, she probably had spent countless hours exploring every part of the castle, and counting every single room. He turns to Arya, and sees her entire face lit up in a smile. He can tell what she’s thinking, she’s home. Arya looks at him and rolls her eyes at his staring. She grabs his hand and leads him further into the castle. She looks over her shoulder to her father. “I’m going to show Gendry his room and then take a shower. Meet you for dinner?” Ned smiles and nods as they go around the corner.  


Gendry looks around. “Man, you weren’t kidding about how big this place is. How do you not get lost?”  


Arya giggles, and Gendry almost freezes. Arya giggled? She never giggles unless she’s rip roaring drunk, and even then she swears him to never tell anyone. She bumps his shoulder with hers. “I used to, a lot. I would be late to all of my lessons. My mother and tutor thought I lied and would purposefully miss them, and most of the time I did, but sometimes it was because I had been exploring the place, and would get turned around and have no idea where I was.” She paused in front of a door. “Alright, here’s your room. Mine is right across from yours so just knock if you need anything.” Before Gendry can respond she turns around and goes into her room, followed closely by Nymeria.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Arya stops just inside her room, and bangs her head against the door. Did I honestly just giggled? What the hell is wrong with me? Arya had crushes before, but no one had made her feel this way. Whenever she looks at Gendry she just wants to jump into his arms and never let go. She groans, she does not want this to develop into something serious, or else they’ll both end up hurt when one of them finds their soulmates. She just needs to have something take her mind off of him.  


Arya decides to do some training before dinner. Outside in the courtyard are the practice dummies she and her siblings had used when they were younger. Their father always believed that all of his children should know how to defend themselves. Sansa had hated the practice, but she still did them because their father wanted her to. Their mother also had them each try something, they all had to learn a language. Arya had chosen Braavosi, and had loved learning it that she also studied High Valyrian. She is now fluent in both the languages of the tongue, and the language of the fight. She brings her practice sword down onto the dummy’s neck, but stops when she hears a voice call her name. “I bet even in this wheelchair I can still beat you.” Arya turns and sees her little brother Bran.  


Bran had been in a climbing accident when they were younger and broke his back, making him unable to walk. He had been very good at weapons, he had wanted to be a soldier someday, but now he’s lucky Tyrion Lannister, younger brother of the mayor designed a saddle for him, and he can ride. He just can’t do much else. Arya smiles and runs to hug him. “I’ve missed you little brother. How’s Meera?” Meera is Bran’s soulmate, and had been the physical therapist who helped him get used to only using his arms after the accident. Arya had always thought they were grossly in love, and, even though she only admits this to herself, hated seeing her younger brother get his soulmate before her. Arya was never considered pretty. Most of the time she accepts this and doesn’t really care, but sometimes things just remind her that she’s lucky she has a soulmate, or else no one might want her.  


Bran smiles happily. “Meera’s good. She’s on the phone with a client right now so I thought I’d come out and get some fresh air. How about you? I hear you’ve got a guy around.”  


Arya shrugs. “Gendry’s just a friend. We aren’t soulmates.”  


Bran smiles knowingly. Somehow he can always read through her. She hates it. “Arya, I can see how much you like him. From hearing what Sansa says about him, I’m sure he likes you just as much.”  


Arya looks at the ground, not able to meet Bran’s eyes. “Maybe, but it doesn’t matter, we’ve got soulmates to look forward too. If we got together it’ll just make problems for us in the future.”  


Bran just gives her a pitying glance. “We’ll see.”  


The day of the wedding is hectic. Gilly, Sansa, Arya, and Ygritte are accompanied by Meera and Shireen, they are not bridesmaids, but Ygritte asked them to help her get ready because they are the soulmates of Jon’s cousins. Meera is tall with thick, black curls, and a pale complexion. Shireen is petite with long light brown hair, and half of her face is scared from Greyscale, a nasty disease that usually kills the person, Shireen’s very lucky. She got it when she was a baby and her father paid as much money as he had to so she could get cured. Her father’s the brother of the Mayor’s husband, so he’s got connections in high places.  


Thankfully everything’s running smoothly and Ygritte’s almost ready when it starts to snow. Ygritte swears when she looks outside. “Ah fuck. Of course it’s snowing. Why’s it snowing in September?” Gilly runs her hand soothingly down Ygritte’s arm.  


Arya shrugs. “Sometimes it does that. Hopefully it’ll just be a light snowfall. We’re all prepared with warm clothes so it’ll be fine.” Sansa finishes Ygritte’s hair and shows her. Most of the curls are left to fall down her back, but some of it is braided off of her face, and kept back with a pin fashioned like an arrow. A “first anniversary gift” from Jon. Ygritte’s dress has full sleeves, and goes up to her throat, but her back is completely exposed. There’s light beading across the bodice and down to her hips, and a long row of pearl buttons pull the dress together in back. She’s wearing a sapphire choker and earrings to go with the girls’ bridesmaid dresses.  


Gilly smiles. “You look beautiful Ygritte. Don’t worry about the snow. The three of us made you a cloak to wear before and after.” Gilly hands her the bundle. It’s a grey and white cloak, the Stark colors, with a pattern of direwolves made from the same beading that’ s on her dress. The wolves have sapphire eyes, and the button that closes the cloak at the neck is a sapphire as well.  


Ygritte’s eyes get a little misty, but Sansa panics. “No! No crying. You can’t ruin your makeup.” She grabs a napkin and tries to air dry her eyes.  


Ygritte snorts and swats her hand away. “I don’t cry. Thank you, this is beautiful. But be honest, what did Arya actually do?”  


Gilly and Sansa laugh but Arya folds her arms over her chest and pretends to be offended. “Excuse you, I got all the materials and designed it. They just made it.”  


Ygritte looks surprised, then pulls her into a tight hug. “Thank you Arya. It’s a beautiful design.”  


Arya smiles at her. “I know.”  


Ygritte chuckles and shakes her head, but when she reaches to ruffle her hair, Arya ducks out of the way. Sansa had worked hard on her hair, curling it so it falls in waves to her shoulders, and pinning half of it to the other side to show off the sapphire earrings Ygritte had gotten all of them, along with the wolf earring that wraps around her helix. Sansa’s hair is left down with a braided bun at the back of her head, and Gilly’s is in a half ponytail. All of theirs look coordinated, but not the same. There’s a knock at the door and Sam sticks his head in. “Everyone’s seated. Are you ready?” Ygritte takes a deep breath and nods.  


The wedding takes place in the Godswood. The large tree is wrapped in fairylights that twinkle in the dimming sun. The snow is lightly falling and looks like petals draped along the aisle. It’s truly a beautiful sight. Arya’s the first to walk down the aisle, accompanied by Rickon. Sansa comes next, wheeling Bran to his place. Last is Gilly, who walks with Robb. Sam would be the Best Man, but he’s officiating the ceremony, so he is already standing in the middle, right in front of the tree.  


Jon is the next to walk down, accompanied by Ned, who pats him on the back and whispers “Your mother would be so proud. I know she’d love Ygritte. They have the same fire. I know Cat and I weren’t perfect at raising you, but both of us are so happy for you and love Ygritte.”  


Jon looks teary-eyed, and hugs Ned before he can cry. He walks over to take his place on Sam’s right. Then the wedding march begins. Ygritte’s family was killed in a car crash years ago, so the man who raised her, Mance Rayder, walks her down the aisle. The cloak is in place and it drags behind her slightly, acting as a train of sorts. When she reaches Jon, she takes it off and hands it to Tormund, who goes to sit next to Jon’s other friend Edd in the second row. Arya looks around, and makes eye contact with Gendry, who’s sitting next to Shireen, Meera, Talysa, and Sandor, in the row that’s designated for the soulmates of the wedding procession. She raises an eyebrow, and Gendry just shrugs. Sam clears his throat, and the wedding begins.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Sandor groans as everyone rises after the wedding finishes. “Gods I fucking hate sitting like that for so long. Why can’t weddings be shorter?”  


Shireen giggles as if he is making a joke, but Gendry knows better. “The wedding was barely ten minutes. How much shorter could it be?” Gendry is shocked when he shares a knowing glance with the man.  


Sandor shrugs. “I mean the only real important part is that they say yes, I don’t know why there has to be more.” Shireen seems to realize he isn’t joking so she doesn’t respond and instead drags Meera off to find Bran and Rickon. Sandor grunts. “I don’t know what it is about women wanting all this fuss, if you love each other shouldn’t it not matter?”  


Gendry shrugs, not having an answer. “I don’t know what to tell you. Arya is definitely of the same mindset as you so I don’t have to worry about it.” Gendry shuts up as he realizes what he said.  


Sandor raises an eyebrow. “You already thinking of marrying her? Does she even know about the two of you.” Gendry reddens and leaves, mumbling about finding Arya. He walks away to the sound of Sandor’s snorts.  


He finds Arya inside Winterfell in the banquet hall with everyone else. She’s sitting at the head table speaking to Sansa next to her. Something runs up and nudges him in the thigh. He looks down to see Nymeria staring up at him. He reaches out to scratch behind her ears and her tongue lolls out. Arya sees and calls her to her side, then looks to Gendry. “Come on, Ygritte sat you next to me.”  


Gendry raises his eyebrows. “She sat me at the head table? Why?”  


Arya rolls her eyes. “You’re my date. It’s the same reason as to why you were sat with the soulmates.” Gendry doesn’t bother to correct her. He knows the reason why Sandor had grabbed his arm and towed him over to that side was because he was trying to get Arya to figure out their connection on her own. Unfortunately for him, Arya still has no clue. Gendry walks over and sits next to her.  


The bride and groom make their entrance. Jon is dressed in the same clothes, but Ygritte changed to a floor length white dress, but it’s simple, a sleeveless dress that clasps around her neck, and is made from a light, flowy fabric that drapes around her. On top is the same cloak that she wore down the aisle. Gendry recognizes it as the cloak that Arya told him she designed. He knows she was proud of it, even though she didn’t make it. He sees the way her eyes light up when she sees her wearing it, and a small grin appears on her face. Gendry bumps his shoulder with hers. “It’s really beautiful. You made a great design.” Arya shrugs, but Gendry knows better. “Really. You keep telling me you have no affinity for clothes and fashion, but it’s perfect.”  


Arya goes a little red and glances down at her plate. “Thanks.” Gendry smiles at her, but is interrupted by dinner being served.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Arya is stuffed when dinner is finally finished. After five different parts of the meal she can’t even think about dessert, which is amazing because she knows Ygritte had lemon cakes be part of it just for her and Sansa. She is brought out of her incoming food coma by the Lannisters and Baratheons coming up to the table. Mayor Cersei and her husband Robert are the first to approach, but both freeze when they look at Gendry. Arya turns to him, but sees he’s oblivious, talking to Bran. When he notices the quiet he turns and sees the couple, but still doesn’t seem to understand why they’re staring at him. He gives an awkward little smile and they both break out of their frozen state. Cersei ignores him and goes to congratulate Jon and Ygritte, and Robert goes to her father, his best friend. Arya turns to Gendry, but he just shrugs.  


Tyrion Lannister, the youngest of the Lannister siblings, and a dwarf, comes next and greets Arya. She has always liked Tyrion. She’s spent multiple summers with Sansa and her father in the south, and has gotten to know Tyrion well. He’s the only one who doesn’t think her training to fight is outrageous for a girl, and even introduced her to her now boss Jaqen H’ghar. “Arya I heard about your run in with those criminals, and want to extend my heartfelt relief at you not being harmed.” Arya smiles and thanks him.  


She points to Gendry. “He’s the one who helped me take them down. I have him to thank for my safety.”  


Tyrion smiles at him. “I’m sure he helped, but I have no doubt you were doing okay on your own.” Arya brightens, this is why she likes Tyrion.  


They are interrupted by Cersei’s gasp. “Yes Arya, I am sorry that happened to you. I am trying to make King’s Landing safer, but it’s hard with such a large city.”  


Arya waves away her explanation. “Don’t worry about it. I know what to expect from Flea Bottom, and should’ve been on higher alert. Have a good night.”  
Cersei, Tyrion, and Robert all leave the table, and Arya realizes Jaime, Cersei’s twin hadn’t come with them. She shrugs, she’s never really liked Jaime even though Sansa says he’s a good and just boss. There is a clinking and Arya realizes it’s time for toasts.  


Robb is the first to stand. “Hello, my name’s Robb, I’m the Best Man. Even though Jon is my cousin, he came to my family when he was seven and I was six. His parents had just passed and he was full of a quiet anger that I never knew what to do with. I tried to treat him like a brother, and even though he definitely is one now, it took a long time to get there. He also never wanted to be with girls. They would all flirt with him but he always ignored them. I was always worried that he wouldn’t know what to do with his soulmate. I mean, his soulwords are ‘You know nothing Jon Snow’ which pretty much sums up his experience with women.” There’s a collective chuckle at that but Robb continues. “I was there when Jon met Ygritte, and it was like all the pieces came into place. She’s just as rowdy as him, so his quiet anger was balanced and placated by her sass. He never felt like he had to pretend with her like I’m sure he did with us. He’s grown and changed because of Ygritte, and I’ll always love her for it. And looking at the woman who Jon was lucky enough to score as a soulmate, I know that you do know something Jon Snow.”  


The crowd laughs and cheers as Robb sits down. Jon pulls him into a tight hug and Ygritte kisses his cheek. Gilly is the next to stand up. “Hello, I’m Gilly the Maid of Honor. I don’t know how to follow that great speech up, but I’ll try my best. I met Ygritte after her parents died. She was raised by the Mayor of our small town up north, and my dad was always his main competition for the job. They never got along, and at first that extended to Ygritte and me. In school we’d always argue, well really she’d try to fight and me being the peace loving scaredy cat I am would just let her yell at me. It was only after some boys tried to pick on me and bully me that Ygritte became my best friend. She saw us behind the school, and she punched every one of them for me. She got detention, and I pranked the teacher so I could be there with her. That’s when I realized just how much of a dedicated friend she is. If you are someone she chooses to be her family she is fiercely protective, loyal, and dedicated. She will always stick up for you and help you fight your enemies, even if they’re middle school boys. Jon, you’re so lucky to have someone like her on your side. She will always be there for you and will always be there to pick you up when you’re down. Love her, don’t leave her, and never take her for granted.” Gilly sits down and squeezes Ygritte in a hug.  


Arya smiles as dessert is served. Without thinking of her stomach she grabs an entire platter of lemon cakes and puts them between her and her sister. Sansa smiles at her, and they begin to chow them down. Sandor laughs and Gendry just watches in amazement as they stuff as many as they can into their mouths. Ygritte sees them and groans. “The entire reason I put them on the menu was so that you two wouldn’t feel the need to eat more than the other.” Arya shrugs and continues to eat. Sansa has the grace to look embarrassed as she gulps down her mouthful.  


Sansa elbows Arya in the side when she continues to eat. “Sorry Ygritte, just force of habit. You know how my sister is.” Arya rolls her eyes, but stops eating like a pig. Ygritte laughs and goes back to her piece of red velvet cake.  


When the dessert finishes some of the tables are cleared to make room for a dance floor. Ygritte and Jon go down for the first dance, followed by Ygritte and Mance for the father-daughter dance. After they finish Jon approaches Catelyn, Arya’s mother, and holds a hand out for them to dance. Catelyn smiles at Jon and lets him lead her to the dancefloor. Arya had always respected her mother for taking in her cousin without a second thought. Even though Jon could be troubled, like Robb said, she always treated him as one of her own. She gave him the same opportunities as her real children, he was able to learn how to fight, and learn the languages like his cousins. She never thought about money with him, the same as her five children. Jon was raised like a sibling, and it’s nice to see him acknowledge that.  
After the required dances others begin to flock to the floor. Sansa drags a reluctant Sandor the dancefloor, followed by Rickon and Shireen, and Meera and Bran. Arya smiles seeing Bran out there. He used to be so self conscious of the wheelchair, but Meera knows exactly how to handle it. The Maiden God really did well when choosing the two of them. She feels Gendry turn to her so she looks at him. “Do you want to dance?” Gendry looks nervous when he asks the question.  


Arya sighs. “I’m no good at dancing.” Gendry chuckles.  


He stands up and reaches out his hand. “I have no doubt, but I suck too so we can suck together.”  


Arya grabs his hand and lets him lead her to the center of the room. He’s right. Even though neither of them are good at dancing, put together it’s not as embarrassing. A slow song comes on, and they move closer together. Arya stares at Gendry. His blue eyes stare down at her and they mesmerize her. All she wants to do is stare into them all night, and feel his strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her tightly to him. Arya quietly sighs. She wishes Gendry was her soulmate so badly. He’s perfect for her in every way. He likes that she can defend herself and that she isn’t ladylike. He sticks up for her and is interested in her, her family, and her friends. He gets along with her sister, cousin, and even their soulmates, the two who do not get along with most people. She feels her eyes slide shut and she puts her head on his chest. They simply sway back and forth, and lightly move their feet, but it’s the best dance she’s ever had. She feels his chin come down on the top of her head, and they stay like that for the rest of the song.  


The song changes into a fast paced pop song. Sansa grabs Arya’s arm and pulls the two of them into a small circle made up by her siblings and soulmates. They end up dancing together for three more songs until Arya has to bow out from becoming tired. She grabs Gendry’s arm and pulls him to the bar.  
\--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Brienne’s happy she came to the wedding. She likes seeing people happy and in love, and has actually at the opportunity to get to know Catelyn Stark better. The only times she’s seen the woman are at the hospital when Arya’s in for some injury, and she likes her a lot. Now she’s sitting at her table, sipping a glass of wine. Podrick, her “date” is off flirting with a couple women his age, which causes Brienne to smile. She knows Pod’s reputation at the hospital for that sort of thing, and hopes he has fun tonight. Brienne is interrupted from her thoughts when someone plops down in the chair next to her. She turns and sees Jaime Lannister sitting next to her. He smiles brightly at her. “Hello Wench.”  


Brienne freezes. Oh no. Those words are tattooed on her hip, and have been there since she was born. She wants to groan. Her whole life she had been excited at the prospect of someone loving her. She knows she isn’t attractive, and most men hate the thought of her making more money than them. She had been holding out hope that the man would be her equal and perfect for her in every way. Looking at Jaime Lannister, she knows that will never happen. “Oh gods it’s you.” He pauses and stares back at her in shock.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Four drinks in Arya’s feeling pretty damn good. Gendry and she both had been drinking Moscow Mules and making up stories about the couples on the dancefloor. Arya started the game so that she didn’t think about sneaking off to a deserted room with him to have a little fun, and she knows the alcohol isn’t helping, but seeing all of the single girls eyeing him and trying to flirt with him is getting to her. Sometimes she really hates how unattractive she is compared to her siblings. Gendry makes it worse by not even realizing what they are doing, and having nice, polite conversations which the women take as him being interested, until it’s done and he turns back to her.  


After the fifth woman is shot down, Arya turns to Gendry. “Wanna get out of here? It’s almost midnight and I’m pretty tired.” Gendry puts down the copper mug, takes her hand, and pulls her out of the room.   


They walk to his room and after he opens the door they stare at each other. Neither of them want the good feeling to end, and neither of them want to say goodnight. Gendry starts to speak. “Do you want to…” Before he can finish Arya leaps into his arms and places her mouth on his. Gendry moves farther into the room and shuts the door. They begin kissing in ernest, and soon enough he’s out of his jacket, and Arya’s yanking on his tie. Gendry pulls away. “How drunk are you?”  


Arya shakes her head. “I didn’t have anything to drink before the mules, and it was on a full stomach. I’m fine.” She starts kissing him again and he groans, before unbuttoning his shirt. Once that’s gone she pushes him onto the bed and takes off her shoes and unzips her dress.  


He smiles a warm, soft smile as she pulls off her dress. “You are so beautiful.” Arya rolls her eyes but smiles as she joins him on the bed. They start kissing, and Gendry raises his hands to sift through her hair, messing up Sansa’s hard work. His hand starts to shift lower on her body, running over her breasts, and then closer to her center. His other hand stays on her face. When he touches down there Arya gasps and opens her eyes, he’s staring at her in wonder. He lets her face go and runs his hand through his hair. When he reaches back for her face Arya freezes. On his wrist, in the same place hers is, is two words. Not today. Gendry follows her stare and goes still. “Arya I can explain.”  


Arya shoves off of him and starts to pull on her dress. “No. No. I don’t believe this.” Gendry looks panicked as he gets up and reaches for her. She slaps his hand away. “No. You did not lie to me all these months about being my soulmate. No.” She starts to put on her shoes, but realizes it’s not worth it.  


Gendry steps closer to her. “I’m so sorry for not telling you. Just hear me out.” Arya shakes her head.  


She opens the door and turns to him. “You can ride back to King’s Landing in the morning. I’ll get a flight. I don’t want to see you.” She turns and leaves the room. Across the hall she runs into her room where Nymeria is laying on the bed. She falls onto her bed, stuffs her face into the dog’s fur, and begins to cry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been a while! I started a new job and I have to get up at 6 in the morning, which means I'm super tired by the end of the day and writing takes up too much energy.  
> I had to add the "You know something Jon Snow" from Kit's actual wedding because I thought that was too adorable not to add.  
> Brienne is who I was talking about last chapter when I asked if you wanted a fic about the not named couple. If you do, let me know if you want Sansa and Sandor or Brienne and Jaime more.  
> Just one more chapter to go! I hope you enjoy!


	6. Chapter Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya and Sansa have a serious sister conversation, Gendry grovels, and someone comes into a bit of some money.

It’s been a week, and all Arya does is stay in her apartment or go to work. She doesn’t seem to have the energy to do anything else. There have been tales of soulmates who reject one another and it always ends the same way; death. She had hoped, by not technically rejecting Gendry she would be okay, but she feels herself almost starting to waste away. She knows she needs to do something about it soon, but she just wanted to give herself a little time to wallow in self-pity. Her phone has been non stop ringing for two days, but every time it’s from Sansa, and Arya doesn’t really feel guilty about ignoring her calls. Jaqen had even noticed a difference, and he doesn’t usually bring himself to care about what she does. He pulled her aside two days ago and told her to take the rest of the week off. She knows she must look truly awful for him to give her unasked for time off. A banging at her apartment door rowses her from her bed.  


Sansa stands on the other side. “Arya why the hell haven’t you been answering my calls? This is important.” Arya rolls her eyes, but leaves the door open as she goes into her kitchen for breakfast. Sansa grumbles but lets herself in and sits at the counter. “Have you looked at the news lately?” Arya shrugs and Sansa sighs. “Gendry found out who his father is.”  


Arya freezes and looks at Sansa. “What? How?”  


Sansa gives her a small smile. “Turns out Dad thought he looked like Robert Baratheon. At the wedding Robert also noticed the similarities and did a DNA test with him, it came back a positive match.” Arya is completely speechless and just continues staring at Sansa, who shrugs uncomfortably. “You know how Uncle Robert is. He fucks anything with two legs and a vagina. I’m not surprised he picked up a bar waitress and happened to give her a bastard. If you think about it, Gendry does look a lot like him.” Sansa has started to babble, and Arya knows she has to cut her off.  


Arya opens her mouth and Sansa stops speaking. “What is he going to do about it?”  


Sansa looks at her curiously. “Gendry or Robert?”  


Arya shrugs. “Both. Either.”  


Sansa thinks for a second. “I think Robert offered him some land and money, if he accepts, Gendry will be very comfortable for the rest of his life.”  


Arya pauses. “Gendry hasn’t accepted it yet?”  


Sansa shakes her head. “Not since I last heard. Why? Would that change how you view him?”  


Arya shakes her head vehemently. “You know I never cared about titles or money.”  


Sansa nods her agreement. “I know that, but does Gendry know that? The whole reason he didn’t tell you about your bond was because he didn’t feel like he was good enough for you.”  


Arya plops down in the seat next to her sister. Her mind zeroing in on the turn in conversation. “I couldn’t care less about Gendry’s money situation, and if he had handled it differently I’d be really happy to have him as a soulmate. It’s just that he kept it from me for so long. I had been so conflicted; I hated my growing feelings for him because he wasn’t my soulmate, but he was just perfect for me. I even began to think that never meeting my soulmate would be okay as long as I had Gendry.” Arya’s surprised when Sansa doesn’t react. Knowingly staying with someone who isn’t your soulmate, unless they are dead, is sacrilege. The soulmate bond is a gift from the Maiden Goddess, and you do not repay the gift with throwing it out. She had expected a larger reaction from her sister.  


Sansa sighs and takes Arya’s hand. “You were there when I met Sandor, and you were part of the journey to us finally getting together, but I never told you about our private conversations. The main reason why Sandor was so hesitant about us getting together wasn’t because of me like we thought. He never thought he was good enough for me. He’s a bit older, he doesn’t have much money, he has no land, and half of his face and neck are covered in scars. He didn’t seem to realize that none of this mattered to me. I love him because he’s perfect for me in every way that counts. You know I always dreamed of my knight in shining armor to come save me, I just never thought that knight would have such foul language.” Arya snorts and leans her head on Sansa’s shoulder. Sansa puts her cheek on her crown. “Now look at us. Completely in love and happy with each other being just the way we are.” Sansa pauses and Arya knows what she’s about to say. “You should talk to him Arya. He misses you so much and is practically going out of his mind. He really does care for you a great deal, the timing was just off.”  


Arya doesn’t say anything but she nods her head. Sansa reaches into her purse and pulls out a piece of paper with an address on it. “This is his new address. Go see him. Please.” Arya nods, Sansa kisses the top of her head, and then she’s gone. Arya stares at the piece of paper in front of her, before sighing, grabbing it, and then walking out of the apartment.  
\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  


Gendry sits at his new coffee table in front of his new flatscreen tv. He just finished moving all of his things into his new apartment that his new father got him. He isn’t sure whether or not he’s going to accept the other offerings, but Robert had insisted on him getting the new apartment to get out of Flea Bottom, and Gendry thinks that he should get the apartment without feeling guilty if he does not accept the rest of the gifts because of the shitty life Robert had left him with. He puts his beer down, and watches the Direwolves vs. Lions, thinking about the time Arya and he had cheered for the same team just because his dad had been from Storm’s End. Gods, he knows his dad now, knows that his father used to be a bloody Lord in Storm’s End before marrying the Mayor.  


Gendry pauses the game when there’s a knock at his door. He looks through the peephole, but doesn’t see anyone, so he cautiously opens the door. He freezes as soon as he sees who’s on the other side.  


Arya stands in front of him without an expression so Gendry can’t tell what she’s thinking. “Gendry can I come in?” Gendry nods and holds the door open for her. She steps inside and looks around. Gendry knows she’s comparing it to his last place, they are so different. Arya takes off her jacket and puts it on the coat hanger by the door then makes herself comfortable on the couch. She smiles when she sees the game.  


Arya turns to Gendry, who’s still frozen at the door. She cocks an eyebrow and it’s such a familiar gesture he finds himself calming down and walking to sit next to her. Arya begins the conversation. “Sansa told me about your dad. I’m so sorry you found out that way.”  


Gendry shrugs. “Yeah it was kinda a shock. Your dad called four days ago and told me he knew who my father was. He told me who it was and gave me his phone number.” Arya nods but does not try to interrupt him; he continues. “I called him and we went to the doctors who were able to match us. He immediately offered me the apartment, free of obligations. He also offered me more money than I ever thought I’d have, and an estate in Storm’s End. Those are only if I let him truly be my dad. I’m not sure what I want though.” Gendry hadn’t noticed he was rubbing his soulword until Arya gently grabs his hand and takes it away from his wrist.  
Arya doesn’t speak for a moment. “That must be really hard. I’m not going to apologize for adding to your emotional tension, because I don’t think I did anything wrong, but I didn’t come to fight. I just want to know why you didn’t tell me.”  


Gendry runs his hand through his hair and sighs. “At first I didn’t want you to think I was just taking advantage of your amnesiac state and lie about the connection. Then I didn’t feel good enough for you. You’re the daughter Lord Stark for gods sake. I didn’t think you’d ever like someone like me.” Arya gets an indignant look on her face and opens her mouth to interrupt, but Gendry squeezes her hand which keeps her from speaking. “I quickly realized you didn’t give a shit about that stuff, but I was just so nervous. Then it felt too weird to bring it up, so I decided to just see where our relationship went. I’m so sorry if I made you feel guilty or angry or hurt. I never wanted you to go through that. I just didn’t know how to tell you I had been keeping that from you.” Again, unconsciously, he has begun to run his fingers along the top of her thigh, and only notices when she shivers.  


He glances at her and her cheeks are a light pink. She meets his gaze and they stare at each other for a moment. “I get it. Really I do. I know some lords really care about image and money and shit, but my family has never been like that. My parents just want us to find our soulmates and be happy. Besides Theon, who isn’t even technically our family, I was the last one to find mine. Both Bran and Rickon found theirs so young, I began to feel like I’d never find you. When I was younger I was teased as looking like a horse, ‘Arya Horseface’ they’d call me. I never thought I’d find my soulmate, or if I did I didn’t think they’d want me. When I learned you’d been hiding it from me I guess those old insecurities came rushing to the surface.” Arya deflates after sharing so much, and cuddles her head into the crook of his neck.  


Gendry smiles, feeling truly satisfied for the first time in a long time. He turns his head to kiss her forehead. “I meant what I said when I called you beautiful. When I realized this kick ass girl who was fending off three grown men was my soulmate I couldn’t believe I was so lucky. Then after getting you cleaned up I realized you were absolutely gorgeous. Then I got to know you, and my feelings for you grew even stronger. I’m not sure I’d call it love yet, but man it’s sure on the way to being that. Please, I know I screwed up, but please let me have a do over” Arya smiles at him and kisses him. Gendry shifts so they are facing each other, and he moves his hand up and down her thigh. Arya lets out a breathy sigh, which invites his tongue in. They spend a few minutes just kissing, before Arya breaks apart to catch her breath, and he realizes she has ended up on his lap.  


Arya smiles at him. “We can have a do over, but not today.”  


Gendry smirks at the connection to his soulword. He leans forward and kisses her again. When he pulls back he leaves just enough room to speak. “As you wish m’lady.” Arya giggles and lightly pushes him, but he drags her to him and they kiss. In this moment, Gendry knows everything will be okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The last chapter! Thank you to everyone who has read my first Gendrya fic! The next fic in this universe will be of Brienne and Jaime, and then I'll do a prequel of Sansa and Sandor. I have a lot of other ideas for different fics in different alternative universes so keep your eyes out for those as well. I hope you all enjoyed this fic!


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